Man Left for Dead Settles Lawsuit Against Ambulance Corps

The Stonington Ambulance Corps has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by stonemason Kevin Crandall, who alleged that two of its EMTs stopped resuscitation efforts after they mistakenly determined he was dead, resulting in brain damage from lack of oxygen. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

Mr. Crandall had been struck by lightning in May 2005 while building a stone wall. After responding to the call, ambulance president Victor Lima and former member Iona Lyons stopped resuscitation efforts and covered Crandall with a blanket. Lyons also told a police dispatcher to cancel the paramedics rushing to the scene. A few minutes later, when Police Lt. Keith Beebe noticed Crandall was still alive, he was rushed to the hospital. State protocols require EMTs to continue cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics, who have more training, get to the scene and take over for them, or a doctor tells them to stop resuscitation efforts. Lima and Lyons were later disciplined by the state Office of Emergency Medical Services for violating the protocol that required them to try to resuscitate Mr. Crandall. The State's investigation found Lima and Lyons "failed to conduct a proper patient assessment" and, in doing so, "failed to recognize the patient was actually alive." The two did not contest the findings and the state placed the two EMTs on a one-year probation and ordered them to undergo retraining.

Attorney Reck was prepared to take the case to trial, and had retained experts to testify that Mr. Crandall's injuries were caused by the actions of the EMTs and that continuous resuscitation reduces the risk of hypoxic (lack of oxygen) injury.